Faces at AfDB General Meetings

The ongoing 49th African Development Bank Annual Meetings under the theme, “The Next 50 years: The Africa We Want” has a variety of participants representing all sectors of the economy who are expected to provide inputs on the continent’s development agenda. The diversity of the participants is geared at ensuring that all inputs are brought on to the table and that development is inclusive. Until yesterday evening, besides the host President Paul Kagame, other expected heads of state included presidents, Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Macky Sall of Senegal and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, according to a programme by the AfDB. They are expected to lead deliberations on the continent’s future taking stock of gains made over the past fifty years and charting the future. The New Times’ Collins Mwai profiles some of the participants expected to bring their expertise to various panel discussions. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Dlamini-Zuma is an undisputable trailblaser in uplifting and empowerment of women across the African continent. The AU Commission chairperson’s career as an activist and politician is testimony to her indestructible and courageous spirit. She is expected to bring on expertise during a high level debate on the leadership in the Africa we want. Mo Ibrahim Mo Ibrahim is the Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which he established in 2006 to support good governance and exceptional leadership on the African continent. Sudanese-born, Ibrahim is a global expert in mobile communications with a distinguished business career. He founded Celtel International, one of Africa’s leading mobile telephone companies in 1998 which was sold to Zain in 2005 and was then purchased by Bharti Airtel in 2010. Pascal Lamy The former director of the World Trade Organisation, who served two terms until September 2013, is a major resource at the conference on matters regarding regional integration and the vision of globalisation. Currently a businessman and the honorary president of Paris-based think-tank, Notre Europe, he is expected to give expert opinions on various aspects on Africa’s economic future. Prof. Mthuli Ncube The chief economist and vice-president of AfDB oversees the Economics Complex, which is focused on the process of knowledge management within the Bank and with its partners, and general economic strategic direction of the Bank. He overseas the Development Research and Statistics divisions, as well as African Development Institute. As a vice-president, he is a member of the senior management of the Bank and contributes to its general strategic direction. Phumzile Mlambo Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is UN Under-Secretary-General and executive director of UN Women. To the AfDB meetings, she brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this position, having devoted her career to issues of human rights, equality and social justice. Mlambo-Ngcuka has expert opinions to bring to the deliberations having worked in government, private sector and civil society and was actively involved in the struggle to end apartheid in her native South Africa. Arancha González Arancha González is the executive director of the International Trade Centre (ITC). The expert in international trade issues with 20 years of experience greatly contributed to discussions on developing intra- Africa trade. González, a Spanish, has extensive knowledge about international trade and economics, coupled with broad experience in trade and development matters in the public and private sectors, as well as in management at multilateral organisations. Dr Carlos Lopes The Guinea Bissau-born was appointed the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), on March 23, 2012. To the annual meetings, he brings more than 24 years of experience at the UN Development Programme as the resident coordinator in Brazil and Zimbabwe. A member of several African academic networks, as well as a strategist and socio-economist, Lopes has vast experience in capacity-building and technical cooperation on the continent. Zhou Xiaochuan Zhou Xiaochuan is a Chinese economist, banker, reformist and bureaucrat. As governor of the Peoples Bank of China since December 2002, he has been in charge of the monetary policy of the Peoples Republic of China in recent years. Zhou was reappointed to the same position in March 2013, making him the longest-serving Chinese central bank chief since the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China. He is one of the most influential economic figures in the world and was ranked 4th by Foreign Policy in the Top 100 Global Thinkers report of December 2010. In 2011 and 2012, he was included in the 50 Most Influential ranking of Bloomberg Markets Magazine. Aliko Dangote The richest man in Africa has served as the President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange since June 2012. He is the President of the Dangote Group. Dangote has successfully transformed a small trading business, which he began in 1977, into a multibillion dollar business which now spans the West-African sub-region. At the African Development Bank 49th Annual Meetings, Dangote is expected to represent the private sector’s interest and give experts opinions on how the sector can be facilitated to provide more jobs. Frannie Léautier Frannie Léautier is currently a partner and chief executive of Mkoba Private Equity Fund based in Tanzania. She moderated yesterday’s “Ending conflict and peace building in Africa” session that sought to chart ways to bring peace to the troubled South Sudan. She previously headed Africa Capacity Building Foundation.

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Faces at AfDB General Meetings